So What Now?
by Amethyst Beloved
Summary: A collection of individual one-shots following Tristan and Miles' secret relationship during the week of spring break at the heels of 1340: Thunderstruck, Part 2. Triles fluff with some past Yates angst.
1. Spring

"So what now?"

Tristan didn't even know how to respond. His closest guy friend who was apparently no longer his unrequited crush stared at him with such intensity that the blond couldn't look away even if he wanted to.

"Let's... play basketball."

Miles' features softened and he let out a chuckle. That was the last thing he expected to come out of Tristan's mouth, but surprisingly enough it was what he needed the most. Maybe the normalcy of their common interest might just be what can help him wrap his head around the confession that he was quick to blurt out even if he had no regrets.

"Look, while we don't have to immediately talk about... this, I think it's only fair to clear the air for the time being," Tristan said slowly. "Who ever scores a point gets to ask a question?"

"Sure, let's play."

Miles jogged ahead of Tristan to retrieve a basketball from the pool house and led the way towards the court on the other side of the house. After a few minutes of one-to-one and a handful of close calls, Miles sunk in the first basket.

"Are you staying in town for spring break?"

Tristan grinned and nodded his head.

"My brother is back home for a few days so I'm sure my mom will guilt him into spending some bonding time with me. Other than that... you have my number."

Before Miles was able to allow his mind wonder what exactly Tristan really meant by that, the blond promptly snatched the ball out of his hands and streaked across the court to neatly toss the ball in the hoop.

"Can we... keep this a secret?"

Miles was taken back with the request. While he knew next to nothing about Tristan's relationship with Creepo Yates, it was obvious that an affair of that nature had to be kept under wraps. Otherwise it would have spread like wildfire in the halls of Degrassi, and nothing would have been able to hold Miles back from giving the English teacher a solid pounding. While he wasn't ready to scream out this newly discovered side of himself from the rooftops, he wasn't going to completely pretend that it didn't exist either. But if this is what Tristan wanted for now, so be it.

"All right. Nobody knows until we figure this out ourselves."

Tristan beamed and a breath was caught in Miles throat when he noticed how... _pretty_ he looked, smiling just for him. Miles' head couldn't understand these new feelings but he knew that his heart wanted him to just walk over and give him a kiss. Before he could react, Tristan bounced the ball at him and he remembered that they were still playing.

Miles took a chance and shot the ball from where he was standing, even if it was rather far from the net. He smirked when he heard the satisfying swish until a grim thought entered his head.

"Are you ever going to tell me about…_him_?"

Miles couldn't help but flinch when he saw the pain that washed over Tristan's face. The blond quickly shook his head as if to pull himself away from the past.

"…I might."

Back in the game, Miles faked right and darted left, but right before he was going to make the shot, Tristan stole the ball and snatched the point away from him.

"I do have something important to ask," said the blond in almost a whisper while he unconsciously tightened his grip over the ball. He became serious as he averted his eyes and turned his head away. "Are you... completely over Maya?"

Miles didn't answer right away in order to allow himself to give the question some deep thought. He wasn't going to lie and say that his relationship with his ex-girlfriend meant nothing at all. He did love her once, and there was a time that he would do anything for her, including being her secret boyfriend while watching that Rubber Room skid drape himself all over her until they broke up for good during the Wild West event. There was that glimmer of hope for things to go back the way they were, but it was completely extinguished when Maya found out about him and Zoë at the party. No, there was no going back, ever. He needed someone and for the first time it wasn't her.

"Yes. If I still thought there was a chance to fix things, I would have been at the dance trying to win her back. You and I both know what happened instead."

With those words Tristan faced him again to give him a soft look with his eyes filled with hope. A look that meant that Miles said something right. He cupped one side of Tristan's face and leaned forward to kiss his cheek on the other side. He felt the blond's shoulders slump down and heard him release a breath that he probably wasn't aware that he was holding. The brunet dropped another kiss on the corner of his mouth before finally landing on his waiting lips.

This kiss was a lot more unhurried compared to their brief heated exchange the night before, but it was no less exhilarating. Since he and Tristan were the same height, Miles took the time to appreciate the freedom of no longer having to stoop over when making out. His ex would usually be pulling him down by the back of his neck at this point. All of those past memories were slipping away like sand through the cracks of time now that Miles was consumed with the warmth coming from Tristan's hands that were splayed widely on his chest.

Once they pulled away, Miles noted that the other boy definitely looked a lot more relaxed, but there was still no mistaking the touch of caution in his stance. It didn't take an idiot to realize that a part of Tristan will always feel a bit insecure of his former best friend and the relationship that Miles had with her. The brunet was relieved that he no longer harboured any residual feelings for Maya. And he was more than ready to spend the entire spring break to prove that this was not a game to Tristan.

Because if that was still the case, he knew that would be enough for this boy to turn around, walk away, and only look back to say goodbye.


	2. Life

"And when he put his hand on my shoulder, that's when I thought that I was going to faint right then and there."

"So, I take it that he was your first boyfriend?"

"God, no."

"Did you have any boyfriends?"

"I thought I did. But..."

"... Tris?"

"Hmmm?"

"Tell me why this Fab guy was such an idiot."

"Well, first of all he brought me to one of those gross vegan joints. Now I'm anti-carb so who am I to judge, right?"

"Wait, you don't eat carbs?"

"Come on Miles, you've known me for how many months now?"

"Hey... what about that eclair that I bought you in Paris?"

"Uh, yeah. It was the thought that counts?"

"Now you have to make it up to me."

"Not until your family leaves. So back to my story. I was telling him about how my club was raising money for a New York trip for Fashion Week and then he started droning on about how it was so shallow."

"But... isn't that the point?"

"Exactly! Finally someone who understands."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why d'you join the basketball team this year instead of going back to Fashion Club?"

"I was trying to evolve as a human being. Obvi."

"Indulge me. Would you have tried out if I wasn't so obsessed about what my Dad wanted me to do?"

"Prob'ly not."

"Ha. Knew it all along."

"Pff, gimme a break. It's only been a couple of days since you've started seeing me as more than a friend"

"Okay, okay. You got me there. Honestly though, that's the first time anyone's ever done something like that for me."

"What would you've done if you didn't try out for basketball?"

"I would have... tagged along and followed you to that meeting."

"Really? Somehow I don't see haute couture as being your milieu."

"What are you talking about? I have excellent taste in clothing."

"Owning an endless amount of button-ups and being a bit too liberal with the colour blue does not count as having a sense of style."

"Ouch."

"But if that's what you wanna do, there are other ways to go about it."

"Ha, I'm sure my father would have a field day if his eldest went skipping off into the fashion industry. I guess I could always invest."

"In what?"

"In your clothing line, of course."

"That's just silly."

"Promise that you'll think about it."

"Fine. Tell me, what's the catch?"

"I get to name it whatever I want."

"Have you already got something in mind?"

"Of course."

"Then spill."

"Tristan."

"Hmmm?"

"No, the actual name of the clothing line is called 'Tristan'!"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Now I'm just more determined than ever. Anyway, I just heard the car pull out of the driveway."

"Really."

"And it turns out the only currency that is acceptable for a return of one uneaten French pastry happens to be kisses. Preferably of the _french_ variety."

"You don't say. In that case, I'm more than ready to pay up."


	3. Breakfast

"Overall, Ottawa played a good game, but thank goodness the Habs scored right before last period or else it would have went into, ugh, overtime," Tristan said with a shudder, making Miles laugh.

"So I take it that your first playoff game went well?"

"I shouldn't complain. After all, Mama also bought tickets for Owen and me to go see the matinee performance of Les Mis over at the Orpheus Theater. And guess who couldn't stop humming Master of the House on the drive home? I'll give you a hint: it wasn't me."

"That's a win for Team Musicals," commented Miles while taking a moment to rub small circles on Tristan's back before dropping his hand to his side while they continued walking.

After spending the whole day alone when Tristan was out of town with his brother, Miles knew that he had snatch him before someone else beat him to the punch. He saw the public invitation sent out by the Dot on Facerange announcing their re-opening after it had been closed for a couple of days due to damages. They were encouraging people to come by for breakfast, and Miles saw it as the perfect way for him and Tristan to start the day.

The café was a lot more crowded than expected, but there was still one vacant table left in the back corner. Tristan made a beeline towards it to lay his claim and Miles waited in line to order. He picked up a parfait for Tristan and a croissant for himself. While he was waiting for their lattes, a smile played across his lips when he decided that he'll entertain Tristan with a bunch of flirty pick up lines and sweet nothings in French to make him giggle and no one around them would be the wiser. Miles made his way back to the table and his face fell when he saw that Tristan was no longer sitting alone.

"Miles! Tristan said that he was here with you."

If only you knew in what sense, Miles thought bitterly to himself and sat down. Tristan gave him an apologetic look which Miles returned with narrowed eyes as he braced himself to share his date with Zoë Rivas of all people.

"After all, there's no where else to sit and Tristan always has his bestie's back!"

"For sure. Hey, I was thinking that it would be fun to get the comedy troop back together again. We haven't done anything since Thanksgiving. Miles, you were out of town so you've never seen us perform."

Miles smiled weakly in response, appreciating the way Tristan was trying to include him in the conversation even if he didn't have anything to contribute.

"Good idea. I don't have anything special going on next term."

"And we can spend the rest of our time hating on Maya, right?."

"Ah... I'm actually out of that club."

Miles whirled his head to look directly at Zoë and realized that she was being perfectly serious. Both girls had been at each other's throats since Paris and it went downhill from there. How could things have changed so suddenly?

"What exactly happened at the dance?" asked Tristan cautiously.

"Oh, we didn't end up going. We started off playing drinking games with Zig instead and we got pretty tipsy."

"Wait... was Maya wearing pink?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

Tristan looked slyly at his curved fingers.

"Just a hunch."

Miles crossed his arms and slouched in his chair with a sigh. He knew Tristan well enough to know that he would want a full gossip report. And as much as he wanted to grab the blond's wrist and drag him out of this noisy place with these annoying distractions, he knew it wouldn't be fair and it would make things too suspicious when Tristan specifically said that he wanted to keep things a secret for now.

Miles flopped his foot to the side and inadvertently hit Tristan's shoe. Without thinking Tristan moved his foot away, but Miles was struck with a better idea to pass the time and to get back his attention without being too obvious. He repositioned himself and slowly used both his feet to gather Tristan's foot. This time instead of moving away, the blond shot him a look and hid his smile behind his drink. He turned his head to listen to Zoë continue her story, but Miles was very well aware that he got his message across based on the blush colouring Tristan's cheeks.

Miles kicked off his shoes and while he nibbled on his croissant he concentrated on untying Tristan's laces with his toes, which proved a bit challenging due to his socks. But he was determined and he finally completed his task. He started to rub his foot against Tristan's, who was quick to respond and was equally as active.

"Mmmmm" moaned Tristan who conveniently took a spoonful of his parfait at that very moment. "The yogurt in here is delish, Zo."

Miles smirked at Tristan's innocent act and moved up to massage the ankle. The brunet scooted down a bit lower and slowly ran his foot up and down along Tristan's calf. When he brushed a sensitive underside behind the blond's knee, Tristan couldn't help but gasp.

"You mean you're the one who smashed in the door?" Tristan asked to mask his reaction to Miles' tender ministrations. "I was sure that it was the storm that caused the damage."

"Nope, just little ol' me," replied Zoë who straightened herself up and tossed her hair over her shoulders while smiling smugly at her ability of captivating her audience.

Miles knew better, of course, and decided to push the envelope even further. He stretched out his arms to fake a yawn and in turn shimmied down just a bit further. Sipping on his latte, he kept his eyes locked on Tristan's face, looking forward to seeing how the scene will unfold. Miles was now slowly rubbing his foot even higher along the leg. He started circling the knee before inching his foot upwards. By the time he brushed against the inner thigh, Tristan yelped and practically jumped out of his seat.

"Her clothes were wet! We didn't make up by hooking up!" exclaimed Zoë. "Someone needs to get their mind out of the gutter. Honest, we sang show tunes instead."

Tristan worked his way back into his sneakers and when he shot out of his chair Miles quickly caught on and wiggled into his shoes before getting up as well.

"Woah, what's the rush?" asked Zoë with her eyebrows raised at the two boys towering over her.

"Tris and I have plans."

"Like what?"

They shot each other quick glances before saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Movie marathon!" they blurted in sync.

"Have fun, then."

They quickly turned and Tristan kept his hand discreetly at the small of Miles' back as they weaved through the crowd. Once outside, the blond steered the other boy by his biceps and quickly swung him in a nearby alley until his back roughly hit the wall. Before the brunet was able to get a word out, Tristan was kissing him senseless, pouring out the tension that he had been keeping pent up inside while undergoing the sweet torture. Miles wrapped his arms around the boy's neck to bring him closer and he groaned when he felt Tristan gripping onto his hips. Just when he felt like his lungs was going to burst from the lack of oxygen, Tristan broke away and leaned his forehead against Miles'. The only sound between them was their heavy panting.

"It looks like we should have breakfast together more often," whispered Tristan breathlessly after licking his lips. "So let's get cracking on those movies."

He reluctantly pulled himself away and the two casually walked out of the alley, hoping that they weren't too conspicuous. Back out on the street, they stayed close enough to each other for their knuckles to gently brush together as they walked and continued on with their day.


	4. He

"I can't believe that spring break is over."

"There's still the weekend. Don't pout. Not everyone gets to jet-set off the the Hamptons with their family at the spur of the moment."

"But that means two whole days without you."

Tristan lifted his head from Miles' chest long enough to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before snuggling back in his arms.

"What do you wanna do today?"

"I really can't think of anything better than keeping you right here, Tris."

"You know... you're the first person to just hold me like this."

Miles angled his head and shot Tristan a confused look.

"But weren't you in an... intimate relationship?"

A shadowed look fell over Tristan's eyes and he shimmied out of Miles' hold. He took a few breaths before facing the brunet again.

"I'm ready to talk about it now."

Miles nodded solemnly and straighten himself up, ready to give Tristan his undivided attention and all the time he needed.

"I've never been shy about looking for love. From being set up with a guy because he had an LGBT pin on his bag, but turned out being a trans kid who liked girls to falling hard for a straight boy who would eventually become Maya's first boyfriend, I never really did give up on the chase. Hell, I even thought that you played for my team at one point."

"Well, it turns out that you weren't entirely wrong."

Tristan let out a shaky chuckle before continuing.

"When Grant first came to take over English class, I thought he was all kinds of amazing. And he was actually there for me when things started to get bad at home. Zoë was neck deep in her trial and Maya was too busy keeping Zig out of trouble. And you were nursing a broken heart so I didn't think it was fair to unload my problems on your lap. For the first time, Grant made me feel that someone out there appreciated me. But there was a reason why he was the one who was always around. When he said that he saw himself inside of me... it turns out that he wasn't speaking figuratively. I was... his target."

Miles felt his heart tighten in his chest as Tristan stood up to look out outside.

"He knew how desperate I was to get into his collective. He made me jump through hoops. It was as if he was already starting to test how much power he had over me. Once he let me in his precious little society, he acted as if he was doing me a favour. Before I knew what was happening I placed him on a pedestal and I was hanging on to his every word."

Miles slowly got up to join Tristan by the window. He was sure to give him his space, but he wanted to make himself available at any moment's notice.

"Do you know how hard it is to sit on the sidelines and watch your friends find love? It started with Tori. Then it was Maya. Then it was Zoë. And of course it just had to be Maya again who soon had not one, but two guys fighting for love. Who wanted me? I needed someone, Miles. Was it a crime that I wanted to give my heart to another person? I longed for an epic romance and I thought that I finally found it."

Miles was at a loss for words. He had no idea that Tristan, who was always so loveable and carefree, was harbouring so much pain deep inside of him for all this time.

"He played it off as if I was the one who made the first move since I decided to kiss him. But _he_ invited me to his place. He deliberately lured out his trap and I fell for his bait. A part of me knew that this wasn't what I wanted and I actually ran away when things started moving too fast. I always thought that I would give myself away emotionally before the physical part came into play. But what other choice did I have? I was fed up with watching my friends fall in love. I wanted a turn even if it meant turning my back on what I believed in. It looked like this was my only chance. I went to his place on my own. And when I kissed him, I gave him the permission to let him have his way with me."

Tristan leaned on Miles' shoulder before continuing.

"Before I realized what was happening, I was completely under his control... ready to do anything and everything that he wanted me to. I couldn't compare this relationship to anything else. So I thought that this was happiness. I didn't question the fact that the only thing we ever did together was have sex. Of course we couldn't go out in public, but even in private he never savoured the time to just hold me. It was always intense and fast. There was no courtship. I was afraid that he would tell me that I wasn't adult enough again if I expressed what I wanted, so I did things his way. I thought that this was love and I made myself believe that we shared the same needs. But the feeling went away the second Winston talked about Grant... groping him. That was the night when I realized that we never had a connection. It was all a cruel joke. I was used. Manipulated, even. And to think I fell for it, Miles. I fell for all of it."

Miles had to battle a wave of nausea that overcame him. Yates shaped Tristan to be his glorified sex toy. There was nothing healthy about it. A part of him wanted to fly out and hunt down the man who had taken advantage of his Tristan and beat him to a pulp. But violence wasn't the answer. He reached out for the boy's hand and lightly rubbed his lips over the knuckles.

"But that was also the night that I fell for you," Miles rumbled softly as he pressed a kiss against Tristan's wrist. "He was a dark cloud, Tris. Let me be your silver lining."

With that Miles gathered him in his arms and Tristan couldn't help but notice how much more intimate this hug was compared to the last two times. Forget about it lingering. Miles held him tightly and it didn't seem like he was going to pull away any time soon. Encased in his protective grip, Tristan felt as if he would float away if it wasn't for the fact that Miles' hold had him firmly planted on the ground. He melted when he noticed how perfectly Miles' head comfortably rested in the crook of his neck as if the space was especially designed for him. Tristan couldn't help but smile when Miles placed a hand to the back of his head to caress his blond locks and slowly swayed back and forth.

"Thank you for opening up to me," he sighed. "I'm really gonna miss you this weekend. And on Monday we're definitely going to make up for loss time."

"Miles... we can't spend hours making out on school grounds."

"That sounds like a challenge."


End file.
